Toyota officials knew the company’s first season in Nextel Cup would be tough, but never dreamed it would be this difficult. “We certainly didn’t expect all seven cars to make every race, but we didn’t really think it would be this bad,” said Jim Aust, president of Toyota Racing Development. “Here at Phoenix, we figured [...]

Jeff Gordon, No. 24 DuPont Impala SS, battled Tony Stewart, No. 20 Home Depot Impala SS to the checked flag to capture his career-first victory at Phoenix International Raceway (PIR). The hard-fought win was his first of the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series (NNCS) season and the 76th of his career to tie the win [...]

MATT KENSETH — No. 17 DeWalt Ford Fusion (finished 5th)
“Some guys obviously ran better than others. We didn’t handle the best all night. We ran a lot better than I thought we’d run and we were able to get a good finish out of it. So, it was alright.”
THIS WAS THE LONGEST TEST FOR THE [...]

BOBBY LABONTE (No. 43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge Avenger)
NOTE: Labonte’s eighth-place finish was his best of the season, and he scored the best Dodge Avenger finish Saturday night at PIR.
“It wasn’t’ a bad run. Obviously we got lucky when we caught that caution and some guys had already pitted. That helped us out a few positions. [...]

Dale Jarrett finished in the 29th position in the No. 44 UPS Toyota Camry after starting from the 43rd position. David Reutimann finished in the 32nd position in the No. 00 Domino’s Toyota Camry after starting from the 25th position. This is Reutimann’s best finish of the season.
Dave Blaney, driver of the No. 22 Caterpillar [...]